This invention relates generally to an improved ophthalmic frame and in particular to a new and novel device which may be used by an optometrist or the like to insure a proper fit for each individual patient. The subject invention may be incorporated into the ophthalmic device used by an optometrist or the like and may also be incorporated into the final eyeglass frames which are prescribed by the optometrist or the like.
The usual procedure for the selection and fitting of eyeglasses by an optometrist generally involves a two-step process where in the first step, the user's eyes are checked by an optometrist to ascertain the precise degree of correction required in the lens of the eyeglass. After this has been determined, the patient is generally escorted to a separate sitting room where a large selection of styles and colors of eyeglass frames are shown to him. After a long series of trial and error fittings of the various styles and colors of glasses on the user, the final selection is generally made by the patient and his particular set of glasses are then tailor-made by the optometrist by grinding the prescription formula for the lens and inserting the proper lens in the selected frame.
Such fitting techniques, while many times successful, are not necessarily always successful since standard frames heretofore known generally comprise one of two types which are not necessarily satisfactory for all users. Such frames generally utilize molded nosepieces made of plastic and have a relatively small contact area with the nose, and with no adjustment front-to-rear possible to take into account different size and shaped noses. The other type of nosepiece used with frames generally sold today consists of a floating nosepiece which may be formed as a metal face or sometimes a plastic face.
It should be recognized that these types of nosepiece mounts are often considered uncomfortable and can cause pressure indentations in the skin of the nose which can be unsightly and irritating after a prolonged use of the poorly fit eyeglass. All ill-fitted pair of eyeglasses, such as this, often causes a second problem to the user which is the problem of slippage of glasses on the user's nose which can be very annoying, to say the least. It is felt that such slippage occurs because of poor frictional fit on the nose of the user resulting primarily from the ill-fitted nosepieces on the glasses.
For a more fuller understanding of the prior art type of nosepieces available for glasses, reference should be made to the applicant's co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 525,842, filed Nov. 21, 1974 and entitled, OPHTHALMIC DEVICE AND METHOD. The patents cited in that application, while not considered especially pertinent to that application, were cited for the purpose of showing the extensive state of art and the extensive need for improvement in nosepiece design. In the development of the device covered by the subject patent application, it was thought to be advantageous to provide a more positive pivotable connection between the nosepiece and the nosepiece frame and also to provide in the eyeglass frame a means for adjusting the lens to provide an exact eyelevel position for the eyeglass. In addition, it was thought that there should be provided a new and novel means for molding the removable nosepiece of the subject application.